Shane Larkin, Dr. Phillips (Orlando, Fla.)
Photo courtesy of www.dphoops.com
He moves fluidly to the side, just like his dad did. He picks the ball up effortlessly and anticipates everything seemingly seconds before it happens, also like his dad did.
Shane Larkin certainly has the genetics of a great athlete. He can thank his father, 12-time Major League All-Star and Hall of Fame candidate Barry Larkin for that. Shane’s quick, fast, with amazing reflexes and an ability to break down and see things before they actually happen.
All hallmarks of great athletes.
There is just one glaring difference between Shane and his famous dad. Shane’s chasing a bigger ball than his father did, his athletic love much more entrenched with basketball than baseball. It seems as if the hardwood is where Shane is headed, as one of the best juniors in the country. The 5-foot-10, 160-pound point guard plays for Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Fla.
Larkin had a terrific Reebok All-American Camp, held at Philadelphia University in mid-July. Playing with a team full of Florida stars like Patric Young and Stacey Poole, Larkin held his own, holding down the point guard duties and nailing an occasional 3-point shot.
There was one three-minute span, in a game on the third day of the Reebok Camp, where Shane picked up four steals and scored eight points in aiding his team to a victory. Father Barry has responsibilities as an analyst for the MLB Network, but uncle Byron Larkin, Barry’s older brother who was a second-team All-American basketball player at Xavier and the color commentator on Xavier’s basketball radio broadcasts, was there at courtside watching his nephew chew up the opposition.
But where did young Shane fall off the baseball wagon and pick up basketball?
“I used to go with my father to the games, more toward the end of his career,” Shane said. “I just thought baseball was boring. I liked watching my father play, I just wanted to play a sport where you can run and move, which is something you’re always doing in basketball. I knew my Uncle Byron played, so you can say I’m from an athletic family.
“My father could pretty much play anything—and was good.”
Barry, the 1995 National League MVP and the first shortstop in Major League history to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases in a season (1996), was indeed pretty good at almost anything he did with a ball in his hands. A standout football player for Archbishop Moeller High School in suburban Cincinnati, Barry was offered a football scholarship by Notre Dame and a baseball scholarship by Michigan.
Barry chose baseball.
He was drafted in the second round by the hometown Cincinnati Reds in 1982, but opted to attend Michigan for baseball. In 1985, his 19-year Major League career began by being drafted fourth overall by the Reds again. Barry is eligible for the Hall of Fame next year.
“My father loves baseball, but he also respects my choice to play basketball and he’s really supportive of anything that I do,” said Shane, who doesn’t run around proclaiming his father is a baseball great. “My father is my father to me. I see the way people react, especially Reds fans, when they see my dad. To me, he’s dad and I know I have his support with anything I do.”
Shane hasn’t listed any schools that he’s interested in, but there were a number of schools from Florida and Ohio checking him out in Philadelphia.
“It’s nice to get the attention, and in tournaments like this, going up against the best is where you get it,” Shane said. “This was a great experience. You only become better playing against the best.”
Shane should know. For about 10 years, his father Barry was arguably the best in the game.
Joseph Santoliquito covers high schools for the Philadelphia Daily News and is a frequent contributor to MaxPreps.com. He can be contacted at JSantoliquito@yahoo.com.
